Undone
by mmil612
Summary: Misunderstandings and misconceptions abound in the first 24 hours of married life for Mr and Mrs. Darcy.
1. Chapter 1

Fitzwilliam Darcy was for the very first time in his life completely and utterly undone.

This would simply not do. His wife, of all of 6 hours clearly had expectations, but how could he possibly ever expect to meet them?

He did not know the correct words or phrases, he was still more often than not a bumbling idiot in her company. When she looked at him, he burned for her and then didn't know what to say or really where to begin or what to do.

No, this would not do.

As he sat across from her in the coach on the way to his London townhouse -no, strike that, their London townhouse, he realized that all of the work he has done wooing and pleasing and doting on his bride for the last weeks before their wedding, had left him grossly and entirely unprepared for their wedding night.

He perceived they were soon to arrive near the outskirts to London, which meant 30 minutes or so to home -and at best an hour to bed. How had all of his careful planning come to this?

Elizabeth Darcy sat nearly immobilized, unsure and frightened as to what had just happened to her sweet, handsome, amiable husband. Barely 6 hours has past since the hour in which he had seemed thrilled at the prospect of joining with her in holy matrimony. From the kisses he had stolen from her during their engagement, she was convinced he was truly attracted to her -that she was was indeed more than tolerable and in point of fact, that she tempted her husband a great, great deal.

Something had happened in the 6 hours since she has signed the wedding registry with her new signature, and as afraid as she was to find out -she was nothing if not determined. Her courage to confront her newest family member rising with each breath she sucked in through her teeth.

"Enough! You will not scowl away the happiness of the day Fitzwilliam, I refuse to let you..."

"Madam, I humbly beg your pardon, but might I request for you to repeat what you just said?"...

"Fitwilliam...Mr. Darcy, do you really need me to repeat it? Are you not fully aware what the last 6 hours in this carriage without a word between us have done to me?"

"Mr. Darcy?...Mr. Darcy? What, Elizabeth, I meant Lizzy, oh, my love, no, no, please, I beg you, you misunderstand me entirely.."

"How Sir? -It seems if my memory serves this is not the first time we found ourselves in a similar circumstance"

"No, indeed Elizabeth, it is not. And that is why I beg you, beseech you to listen to what I have to say, cannot say, but must now convey to you..."

"Fitzwilliam, I had such high hopes of the day, but you have attempted to ruin them with your scowls and messages of doom. Pray tell, what news is it that you feel you must share after this intolerable silent treatment?"

"Oh, my dearest beautiful wife. I will try to put into words how I feel. Please though, I beg you, do not interrupt me until I have finished, my sweet, alright?"

Lizzy sat, unsure of what was to come and what Fitzwilliam would say. The strength of his affection and wishes and feelings she knew in her heart were unchanged. But the kinder, more amiable man she had come to expect over the course of their courtship seemed once again to disappear today.

"Elizabeth...beloved my wife" "You well know, I waited 8 and twenty years to be able to say those simple words. My wife. They do not come easily. They did not flow from my lips with ease, and now, blast my earlier mistakes, I find my words to you do not either. I am terribly sorry if my silence today has caused you pain. Believe me, it was unconsciously done. I have been ruminating this entire journey on how to contain you inside my head. How to trap down the power and depth of my feelings and want for you into something a gentlewoman can handle, appreciate and admire. Rather than the beast that threatens to emerge with each block we draw closer to London.

...we have never spoken of this. I have never spoken of this with you -how could I sully your maiden ears with my base needs, desires and dreams. But Elizabeth, you must know, surely you must that you have me completely undone...

I feel as if I will either burst or evolve into a growing flame now that I know you are mine and promised to me until death do us part. When you rejected me at Hunsford -with all the righteousness of your choice, you left me similarly undone, but in a different way than today of course. Now I find myself scared of the depths of my own feelings and the primal needs which you create within me.

The mere thought of discussing this with you now leaves me horrified at my own conduct. I do not want to frighten you hours before we will cleave to one another as husband and wife, and yet I fear if I do not express the depth of my feelings and thoughts and plans for us -you will run from me in terror. I have been afraid to speak for fear of what will come out of my mouth, what will happen next if I take hold of your hand, kiss your beautiful lips or allow myself to unpin your hair and enjoy any of your feminine wiles while we travel. Your first time -our first time as husband and wife will not be in a coach. And yet I have thought of little else in the last 360 minutes, or 21, 600 seconds. I promise you. I have dreamed of all of the ways I might take you right here, after drawing the shades and ripping your prim little travelling costume from your body.

Those are not the words or actions or thoughts of a gentleman. And so while my soul rallies against the injustice of my base desires, I have found myself unable to do much more than stare at you stupidly, furrow my brow in frustration of our physical proximity and yet interminable distance from our bedrooms in London and the chafing of this ridiculous cravat!

Elizabeth, I want my hands on you and yours on me; my lips in a permanent waltz with yours and our bodies as close as nature intended for a couple who loves as we love.

I know you are just as passionate. I have seen it, and have felt it in the few times I allowed myself to steal a kiss or two during out betrothal. However, now I want more Elizabeth, I want it all from you, and I find to my utter disgust and disappointment, that I am entirely unsuccessful at controlling myself in that I want it all now.

So now, my temptress bride, despise me if you dare. I despise myself at this moment already enough for the two of us. And while that was perhaps my longest speech to you ever, it was definitely the most honest. How will you manage with a brute like myself as your husband? I fear you will want to leave me at the next changing station and head back to Longbourn and as far away as possible from me..."

With that, the normally proud and austere Fitzwillian Darcy hung his head in shame and sat with his hands nearly boxing his ears to try to make peace between the gentleman he knew his wife deserves and the newlywed man his most base urges were inspiring him to be.

Elizabeth Darcy sat for a few moments, trying to take in all her husband had said to her, expressed, felt and clearly needed.

While he was entirely accurate that she did not feel this man who sat in front of her now was the one she had married -that he has said such things to her had caused her to feel heat and excitement in places she had previously never considered.

That she, a gentlewoman of the age she was, who had grown up on a farm and had some basic understanding, -or so she thought on the coupling habits of animals and she assumed of humans too-was now considering, contemplating and leaning towards condescending towards her husbands desires.

That he wasn't rejecting her, didn't have a secret love child, mistress or addition hidden aunt like Lady Catherine secretly in Bedlam was more than a relief. It was positively cause for celebration. What that celebration should be, after he worried her so with the lack of address and then start of his address she would have to think on for a few more minutes. He deserved a small tease if nothing else. For this type of retreat, especially in light of their very recently marriage was not to be borne. She could not let his actions or rather lack their of, go unchallenged and could not, could never allow him to believe that this would be acceptable.

She had endured six hours of silence because her husband could wait to bed her no longer? Ridiculous, ridiculous, lovely, beloved, handsome man. How could she possibly be angry. He was her match in every way. How best to show him her own desires?

Elizabeth looked upon the insides of her husband very plush, very fine and very large coach and considered how best to go about giving her husband exactly what he wanted.

The cravat would have to come off, breeches too, the coat was entirely unsettling. As much as she had hoped never to lose her maidenhood in a coach -doing such with a man while still wearing her coat offended her more than anything. His great coat could be used as a pillow of sorts -and luckily, she has insisted in changing into a travelling gown before leaving. The buttons and lace and petticoats and frippery her mother had insisted on for her wedding were no longer an obstacle. She had shucked them all for fear of discomfort. Mind you she still had a corset and stays -but she was hopefully Fitzwilliam would rise to the challenge in more ways than one and work out how to gain the access he needed.

"Fitzwilliam Darcy, while your log speech has shocked me with the depth of your feelings, I find myself at this juncture..." "yes well, I find myself...entirely..."


	2. Chapter 2

Its FF...of course there is more. :) I hope I can get the story down quickly and keep you entertained. This will be M and will have an HEA -never fear. So let's call it , well, I'll leave you to figure out what genre to call it. Should become clear soon. Thanks for all of the favorites and follows and reviews. That was a fun surprise. More than 1000 unique readers in a day, that was quite a shock too!

 **Chapter 2: Complete**

"Well, Fitz...Fitzwilliam, that is to say, I find myself completely, utterly and incandescently happy to hear your thoughts on the subject, because as you must be readily willing to admit, you started off so poorly, I worried something was truly wrong between us and our idyllic life was to end before it even had a chance to get started..."

Not capable of truly hearing his wife's word's -enclosed in misery of the most acute kind thinking of how he had fumbled yet another admission to Elizabeth, he scarcely allowed himself to believe what he had heard. He lifted his head to look at her and determine if she was truly in earnest. What he witnessed in her countenance left him beyond delighted.

Elizabeth stared at him as he had never noticed her looking at him before. Darcy had thought he knew every look, every emotion and every feeling that would pass across his dear wife's face. He certainly stared at her enough to assume he had memorized them all. But this expression was entirely new to him and he was utterly enchanted.

He continued to stare at her , causing her to fumble slightly in her attempt to tease him -but in truth, neither of them particularly cared.

"If, it is as you say, husband, that you seemly can no longer wait, then I happily declare that we should do not wait on my account. As you know, or I hope you know, I am now, forever yours. I was forced to verbally and legally commit to such only a few short hours ago...have you truly managed to forget the details of our wedding already?"

Darcy has steeled himself for a reproach, for a tease, for a rejection, for almost anything, but his wife's teasing acquiescence to his admission.

As he considered how to respond, he found himself the recipient of a most precious and unexpected gift, his wife has launched herself across the gap between them and was now fully ensconced in his lap. In their carriage. Their carriage that contained the Darcy crest proudly on either side. The same carriage that had both window shades completely open.

He gave a loving and meaningful look to his wife, tweaked her nose and then proceeded to reluctantly free one of his arms from his wife's embrace so that he could close the shades as fast as humanly possible.

His unexpectedly receptive wife was not going to make his life or her acceptance into the ton easy, but by Jove -he, Fitzwilliam Darcy was finally, blessedly, going to be happy. As he considered the joy and happiness a certain pair of fine eyes currently staring back at him could bestow, he could wait no longer to make her permanently his own. the coach be damned, he would have the entire thing reupholstered if needed. It was time to start finally using some of his 10,000 a year.

With their privacy now secured, Darcy proceeded to thoroughly and unabashedly kiss and explore his wife and her person. Lips, hair, eyelids and earlobes -all elicited growing and pleasing responses from her.

Should he dare to undo buttons, he feared he would not be able to stop. But he knew his self control was at the very end of its tether.

As he was thoroughly enjoying the feminine wiles he had denied himself for so long, he barely noticed the sounds growing increasingly louder around the coach. But they soon became incessant upon his thoughts. Was that a gunshot? A scream Were the horses slowing?

By G-d, where in hell had he placed his weapon when they had left the last coaching inn after changing horses?! The most precious thing in the world to him was still entirely unaware they were most likely being set upon by thieves and she was wearing the Darcy jewels -nearly priceless in their value. But utterly more valuable was her life.

He had made sure they had taken the less popular route and had backtracked along to ensure they were not followed. Was it random circumstance they were not under siege or was there a more sinister plot afoot?

Questions swirled in Darcy's mind as his wife ended their first real kiss. She could sense the change in him most likely. Hell, any fool wold at this point notice the changes around them, and Elizabeth Darcy was certainly no fool. "Fitzwilliam, what's happening? Did the outriders abandon us? Is your team armed? Where is your pistol? Do you have a secret compartment? Oh, my G-d, the Darcy Jewels -quick, take the combs out of my hair and the necklace, undo the clasp, we haven't a moment to loose"

Suddenly, a booming voice rang out into the night. A voice neither Elizabeth nor Darcy recognized. "Elizabeth Bennet, we know exactly the jewels you wore to your wedding and should still be wearing now. So real pretty so as not to go about getting anyone of your party killed, step out of the coach and turn them over to us. this instant, or all of you will die. That be a right promise, not a request."

Without a moments, hesitation, she could not be responsible for the death of the coachmen or her husband, she turned the latch, opened the door and slipped out of the coach before Darcy realized her intent.

"ELIZABETH!" "NO!" He screeched as his lost his grip on her dress and the satin of her dress slipped through his fingers.

The door to the coach swung back and closed-before Darcy could open it again and demand they unhand his wife and would see justice for their treachery, he heard Elizabeth give a soft cry, which seemed to be quickly muffled. As he fought to open the door of the coach, the riders who accosted them were escaping. Darcy kicked through the door and finally managed to free himself.

The coachmen were all lying facedown in dirt beside them. He hoped not dead, but until he turned each he could not be certain. One thing he knew for certain-Elizabeth was gone. She had managed to drop both her wedding slippers at different points on the road heading North as if to signal him of her abduction.

His heart had just been stolen right out from under him. Seduction was now the furthest thing on his mind -revenge and absolution had taken hold. Damn the jewels -he would happily settle for just his wife in all her health and glory.

There were few people who knew the real value of the Darcy jewels and knew precisely which of them Elizabeth had been given to wear that day. There would be hell to pay should any of them have betrayed him.


End file.
